hermitcraft, sad edition

scarred heart. part one

a raspy voice. a cold hand. a body, frozen in time.

scar's heart was broken. it was his brother, his closest friend, bonded by the magic of the vexes. the dark eyes, usually bright with life, were now dull, glossed over with the never ending void. the skin was the same as a tundra; cold, pale, and unforgiving.

without him, what could scar do? he had lost his business partner-in-crime. scar could continue the business, but being a one-man-show isn't that appealing to investors. the vex wouldn't be happy with him.

scar closed the eyes of his friend and slid his hands underneath the limp body, hoisting him up. a dark spot fell onto the familiar white labcoat, now stained with blood and tears.

xisumavoid: hey scar, cub, where are you guys? we have the meeting tonight, remember?

the message lit up on the communicator of scar's fallen friend. holding back tears, scar shook his head and pulled out a couple of rockets. his elytra unfurled, revealing its tattered state.

scar fell into the sand, in hysterics. he was lost, with the dead body of his best friend being his only company. he couldn't bring himself to reply to xisuma; he was too broken.

the sand whipped around the pair as scar remembered the day of cub's passing. the infection from a husk injury was taking over his body, which he had gotten a few days prior. cub's body weight fell drastically, losing five pounds every day. he was in agony, but stayed strong for scar, not trying to hurt his friend more. his skin was a pale, sickly eggshell white hue, with his veins throbbing beneath the skin. his heart slowed every day. his muscles grew weaker by the minute.

scar choked up and threw a hand over his mouth. he flailed until he turned away to cub, retching up the last meal he had.

xisumavoid: cub, scar, you guys are going to miss the meeting.

the communicator vibrated, jerking scar out of his reverie. shaking hands, he typed back a response as best as he possibly could.

goodtimeswithscar: i'm at -1848, 374. desert. come quick, please.

xisumavoid: what about cub?

scar dropped the machine, letting out a loud wail. the sun began to set and his heart dropped. dear god, not again. he drew his sword, the weapon shaking.

the stars and moon rose. constellations decorated the night sky, pictures dancing above his head.

a hunter, a crab, and a boat. a serpent caught scar's attention. a bear was right behind the serpent, its cubs behind it.

cub.

scar's stomach dropped and he put a hand on the cold hand of his partner. god, how could he explain this?

his stomach rumbled, growling for food. scar absentmindedly rummaged through his satchel, only to remember that he ran out of food just a few days before. the grip on the dead body's hand tightened, a sob held back in his throat.

a groan from a husk broke through the silence of the desert. scar jumped, drawing his sword. tears were now flooding down his face. they were enough to hydrate himself.

the hand of the monster reached out to the human, who sliced off the hand. scar dropped his sword, the weight too great to bear. the husk looked up and reached out its other hand, grasping at scar's shirt. its long nails cut into his chest, blood spilling from scar's chest. scar gasped, holding back another sob.

then, the husk was thrown back. scar fell to the ground, pulling himself into the fetal position, sobbing like there was no tomorrow.

"scar?" the gentle voice of stress greeted him, a hand resting on his shoulder. "it's me, stress. are you alright?" she asked gingerly.

scar looked up at the woman, wiping a tear from his face. "i... uh..." he coughed some sand out of his mouth, gagging slightly. "no." he shook his head. "i... cub is..." he mumbled.

stress helped him sit up and she brushed the sand off his back. "what is it, love?" stress asked.

the shaky hand of scar pointed to the lifeless body of his best friend. "dead..." he mumbled. "he... i... i couldn't save him." he hung his head in shame, shakes racking his body.

"it's okay, love." scar shook his head.

silence.

after what felt like an eternity, xisuma landed next to the pair. then, mumbo. scar never looked up to meet their gazes.

stress helped up the man, while xisuma and mumbo hoisted the body of cub between them.

"cub...!" scar yelped, the wound from the husk eliciting a gasp and a round of aggressive coughs. he staggered as he tried to run after the two carriers of his friend, but stress held a strong grip on his arm.

"it's okay, scar." stress whispered, bringing him into her embrace. he let out a loud sob, soaking stress' salmon pink sweater. "hold on now, love." scar complied as he felt stress take off into the sky.

scar was silent for a week. while joe tended to his wounds, he would try to make small talk, but every conversation would eventually have to include cub. scar withdrew himself more than everyone's liking.

"so... scar. he's not talking to me anymore, or to anyone. even when i'm checking on his cuts, he's silent," joe noted at a meeting one day.

mumbo nodded. "yeah, when i dropped off his food one day, he barely touched it."

"he just lost his best friend, guys. let him grieve," grian said, his arms crossed. "i don't blame him."

"shall we give him more time?" stress asked xisuma, and xisuma looked over to joe.

"well, joe? should we give him more time?" he asked the american.

joe paused, adjusting his glasses and running a hand through his brunette hair. he nodded. "for a bit. i want to get his stitches in before we ask him anything."

"alright then. i'll see you all tomorrow evening, then." xisuma nodded and the next thing the crew knew, he was out the door.

the next day, joe brought the kit for the stitches to scar. joe removed the tattered, cream shirt and examined the wound. after its debridment, it looked good. the dead skin was gone, and fresh, pink tissue was growing in. joe settled next to scar in a stiff armchair. "ok, scar, i need to do some stitches. i'll give you some local anesthetic, then-" he was cut off by the raspy voice of the injured man.

"i don't care. just do it."

joe nodded hesitantly, preparing the syringe. "you should feel a pinch and a sting, ok?"

scar gave a small noise of agreement.

after the anesthesia was injected, joe was getting on with the stitches when scar took a sip of his water.

"do you want to know what happened, joe?" scar asked softly.

—————

word count: 1148

oh my word, this... hurt! this is just part one, so more heart break :)

shout out to becca4leafclover 's hermitcraft stories (especially Tree of Life) for inspiring me to write this!

well, part two should be out soon!